


Small

by yeaka



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 08:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11574537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Nori faces his worst nightmare and some relief.





	Small

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DisKingOfErebor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisKingOfErebor/gifts).



> A/N: Fill for diskingoferebor’s “4 [Fear] [...] with nwalin” request on [my tumblr](http://yeaka.tumblr.com/) [from this list](http://yeaka.tumblr.com/post/163120603835/prompt-list-4).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own The Hobbit or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

It feels a touch ironic, given his choice of “hobbies,” but the one thing Nori fears most is a _cage_.

Somehow, for all his many crimes in all his many places, he’s avoided true _jail_ —although overnight holding cells can be just as bad. This time, he knows Dori isn’t coming in the morning to bail him out. He doesn’t have Dwalin to send for, and he knows Ori can’t lie and give him any alibi. He didn’t even do anything _wrong_. The one time he’s truly innocent is the one time he’ll wind up rotting behind bars for good, and the poetic justice of it doesn’t make him feel any better. He spends the first hour or two just pacing his tiny cell, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, and then he picks a cold corner to sit in and rock. 

He tries not to be too frantic about it. Panic won’t get him anywhere. Won’t get any of them anywhere. He can still hear some of the others shouting across the cavern, but most have died down, and he’s somehow obstinately sure they’re all taking it better than him. A few are probably too angry to be scared. But Nori’s a cagey mess and finds himself tugging at his hair, ruining what little was left of the star. The forest ran him ragged. Hunger wore him down. The leaf-like nonsense the guards gave him felt like dried up parchment in his stomach, and he feels like his skin’s crawling.

“Are you okay?”

The sudden noise, softer than the enraged roars of his friends, snaps his head around. The guard—a waif-like little elf with honey-coloured hair and enormous eyes, is giving him a pitying look through the bars. In the moment, Nori’s not too proud for pity.

He mutters hoarsely, “’Don’t like jails.”

The elf’s frown deepens, and he glances out, maybe at other guards or checking if anyone’s listening—Nori doesn’t know, doesn’t care. Then the elf tells him in a clear attempt to soothe him, “I am sure you will not be here long. If your leader is to confess—”

Nori cuts the guard off with a single, humourless bout of bitter laughter, because as much as Nori deserves to die in jail, Thorin Oakenshield _doesn’t_ , and he’ll never stop hating the elves for that. He’ll never cooperate with them. So Nori’s going to be here _forever_ , or as long as the elves can keep him alive, in this little, cramped, damp underground cell _all alone_ — 

The guard reacts to his distress by leaning down and whispering through the bars, “I am sorry... is... is there anything I can do to help?” It looks like he genuinely feels bad, which means nothing to Nori, _because the elves are the ones keeping him here in the first place._

But that won’t get him anywhere. He tries to breathe. He _isn’t_ Thorin, and he’s never been too stubborn to save his own skin. He just has to think. None of the enforcers he’s ever fouled up in front of have ever given him a chance like this elf is, and he knows an opportunity when he sees it. He doesn’t bother answering: _let me out._ That won’t work. But maybe...

“I could get you more food?” the elf suggests. “Or a blanket, perhaps—”

“Dwalin,” Nori croaks, which just makes the elf tilt his head curiously. Nori steadies himself and explains, “My boyfriend, he’s... he’s in one of the other cells... if you can just put me in his...” His voice breaks, adding, “ _I don’t want to die alone_ ,” and he’s not sure if it’s for dramatic effect or if he really fears that.

Either way, the guard nods sympathetically. He takes a string of keys from his belt, pausing only to say, “Please, do not try to escape while I transfer you—you would be shot down before you made it a single step.”

Nori believes that. Maybe in his prime, he could’ve found a way out. But not when he’s spent the past week disoriented and starving to death with his own head closing in on him.

The guard unlocks the steel door, just like that, and a slender hand coaxes him forward. Nori totters up to his feet. He _knows_ he should hate these people, but in this moment of kindness, it’s hard not to be bizarrely grateful. As soon as Nori’s out, he looks around, at all his other friends in just as much hot water, except none of them look _frightened_ , just furious. Across the way, Ori’s quiet, but he’s already cradled in Dori’s arms. Bifur and Bofur are also in the same cell. The rest of them weren’t so lucky, and Nori seeks out the strong form of his partner, pointing up the trail. The guards nods and leads him over. 

When the brown-haired guard outside Dwalin’s cell unlocks it, Dwalin looks ready to pounce, but Nori leaps into his arms too fast and pushes him deeper. There’s no sense letting Dwalin get shot to death, which Nori has no doubt they’d do. His weight seems to subdue Dwalin’s temper, because Dwalin doesn’t try to fight past him, but sinks down with him, falling to the floor and letting Nori crawl into his lap. Nori tosses his arms around Dwalin’s broad shoulders and breathes in just how _big_ Dwalin is—all firm, hard muscle, a good head and a sense of justice that’s always kept Nori safe one way or the other. When Nori just focuses on that, nuzzling into the crook of Dwalin’s neck and taking sanctity in his touch, it’s easy to think that Dwalin will save him again. Save all of them. Somehow.

Dwalin pets his back and holds him, until Nori’s fear all but melts away, and Dwalin murmurs stubbornly in his ear, “ _It’s going to be okay._ ”


End file.
